FICTION
The Secret Soldier, by Alex Berenson. Because he cannot trust his own people, Saudi King Abdullah secretly hires a semi-retired American spy to resolve crucial royal problems. Much as Daniel Silva details the Holocaust in his thrillers, Berenson, a New York Times reporter, integrates extensive information about the House of Saud. Spy fiction fans will enjoy this one. Library Journal
Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness. In Harkness’ lively debut, witches, vampires and demons outnumber humans at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, where witch and Yale historian Diana Bishop discovers an enchanted manuscript, attracting the attention of 1,500-year-old vampire Matthew Clairmont. Harkness brings this world to vibrant life and makes the most of the growing popularity of gothic adventure with an ending that keeps the Old Lodge door open. Publishers Weekly
Fadeaway Girl, by Martha Grimes. Martha Grimes returns to her 12-year-old heroine, Emma Graham, in this suspenseful sequel to the best-selling “Belle Ruin.” Emma continues her investigation into the strange disappearance of the 4-month-old Slade baby from the Belle Ruin Hotel more than 20 years before. Publishers Weekly
Aftermath, by Tracy Brown. Brown’s scorching sequel to “Snapped,” about four New York African-American friends, picks up at Misa Atkinson’s beautiful Staten Island home, where she has just shot dead her brother-in-law and frequent babysitter who’d been abusing her 3-year-old son. Publishers Weekly
NONFICTION
Smoking Typewriters: The Sixties Underground Press and the Rise of Alternative Media in America, by John McMillian. Historian McMillian turns the clock back to the college radicals who shaped the influential underground press to give voice to the disenfranchised, in his highly detailed book. Publishers Weekly
PAPERBACK
Touchstones: Essays on Literature, Art and Politics, by Mario Vargas Llosa. One of Latin America’s most garlanded novelists — and winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in literature — Mario Vargas Llosa is also an acute and wide-ranging cultural critic and acerbic political commentator. Publisher info
One Good Dog, by Susan Wilson. Wilson goes straight for the emotional jugular with a tale of two battle-scarred survivors — one human, one canine — learning mutual need and trust. Man and dog rehabilitate themselves and each other in his shrewdly engineered tale of twin catastrophes and redemption. Kirkus Reviews
Weeping Underwater Looks a Lot Like Laughter, by Michael J. White. Set in mid-1990s Des Moines, White’s debut novel focuses on teenager George Flynn and his complex relationship with Emily Schell. George first gains Emily’s friendship by winning over her younger sister, Katie, who has a rare version of MS. The friendship blossoms into love, but a tragic event affects their relationship after high school. A funny and affecting account of first love by a new author worth watching. Library Journal
